Hydroponic farming needs special climate control
One of the oldest buildings downtown was recently purchased by a co-op.
This group is planning on making hydroponic farming a year round project.
In order to do this they will be renovating part of the building to act as a greenhouse. Not only will this mean installing large windows to allow sunlight into the building it will also mean installing a specialized HVAC system to completely control the environment in which the plants are grown. If you aren’t familiar with hydroponic farming you may not know that there is no soil involved in the process. Plants are grown in specifically controlled water that is free of pesticides and uses natural fertilizer. The air in the facility must be maintained with proper humidity as well as temperature in order for the plants to thrive. The other thing that needs to be maintained is the level of greenhouse gases that formed because the plants are never really exposed to fresh air. In some cases hydroponic Farms are located within the center of the building and the use of artificial sunlight is used to give the plants the proper amount of sunlight. In these cases it is definitely important to have the proper heating, cooling, and ventilation in place for optimal growth. When the coop presented their plans to the town for the building they also included the plans for the new HVAC system that would be installed. They wanted to make sure that they used powerful HEPA filters and used enough insulation to give them the best results. People in the area are excited about the prospect of being able to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables year-round as we live in an area where that is normally not a possibility. Our local growing season is short and our Winters are long so anytime we can get fresh vegetables that are grown with such care we are happy about that.